The S&P 500 closed lower on Thursday after flirting with its record high from February as traders digested better-than-expected unemployment data and monitored the stalemate in stimulus negotiations.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished Thursday down 80.12 points to 27,896.72
The S&P 500 subsided 6.92 points to 3,373.43
The NASDAQ gathered 30.24 points to 11,042.50.
Cisco Systems dropped more than 11% on the back of disappointing earnings guidance to lead the Dow lower. Stocks of companies that would benefit from the economy reopening struggled as well.
Gap dipped 2.1%. American Airlines and Southwest slid more than 1.5% each. Meanwhile, shares of Apple gained 1.8% to close at a record. Facebook and Netflix were also higher.
Initial weekly jobless claims fell to 963,000, the U.S. Labor Department said. That's below a Dow Jones estimate of 1.1 million. It was also the first time since late March that jobless claims came in below one million.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury wilted, raising yields to 0.72% from Wednesday's 0.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices slid 33 cents to $42.34 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $13.40 to $1,962.40 U.S. an ounce.